Human Impact Project

Erika was arrested by ICE agents on January 10 during a traffic stop on County Road 42 in Burnsville, Minnesota, as part of Operation Metro Surge. She was transferred to federal immigration detention in El Paso, Texas. She had no prior removal order and only misdemeanor traffic infractions. She filed for cancellation of removal and is awaiting a second immigration court hearing, remaining detained over five months after her arrest.

Alvaro Arias was detained by ICE on January 10, 2025, while working on a home near the Imperial and Garfield area in Southgate, California. His family is raising funds to cover legal representation and associated case expenses.

Minnesota resident Nicole Cleland, who was observing ICE and CBP activity as a legal observer, was stopped by federal agents on January 10 after following their vehicle. An agent told her they used facial recognition technology to identify her. Three days later, her Global Entry and TSA PreCheck privileges were revoked, which Cleland believes was retaliation for her observation activities.

Lila Romero, 47, a Venezuelan psychologist living in Dallas, Texas, arrived in the U.S. in 2024 on a tourist visa and began applying for asylum. She was arrested during a traffic stop on January 9 after driving a family business vehicle without proper license plates, and was held for three and a half months at the Bluebonnet detention center in Anson, Texas. While detained, she informally supported other women experiencing anxiety, insomnia, and high stress levels. She now works helping immigrants and families affected by detentions and deportations, and has an immigration hearing scheduled for late September.

Ana Cañedo Luna, a business owner and long-term U.S. resident who was brought to the country at age 10, was arrested on January 9 after a traffic stop in Rock Springs, Wyoming, where she holds a valid work permit. She was transferred to the ICE Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora, Colorado, where she spent five months and ten days in custody. Cañedo discovered that her previous lawyer had requested a voluntary departure without her knowledge or consent, prompting her to change legal representation. After switching to local attorneys and filing a writ of habeas corpus, she was released on June 19 and reunited with her wife, Gloria Guerra. Cañedo continues to fight her immigration case while dealing with the psychological trauma of her detention and remains fearful of future arrest, saying the experience felt like "psychological torture" and a "never-ending nightmare."

Ana Canedo Luna, co-owner of Don Chingonas food truck and Club Elite nightclub in Rock Springs, was detained by ICE on January 9 following a routine traffic stop. The stop was initiated due to a license plate registration discrepancy later confirmed as a clerical error by county staff. Luna presented employment authorization documents valid through May 2030, and her wife provided additional legal documentation disputing ICE's claims that she lacked legal status. Despite the valid work authorization documentation, ICE proceeded with Luna's detention after a records check flagged her in their system.

Genry Ruiz-Guillen, a 29-year-old Honduran man with schizoaffective disorder, was transferred to ICE custody in October 2024 and held at Krome North Service Processing Center. While detained, he experienced seizures, dizziness, fainting spells, confusion, and loss of consciousness. In December he was hospitalized for acute psychosis and subsequently transferred to three Larkin Health System hospitals for psychiatric treatment and treatment of rhabdomyolysis, a life-threatening muscle breakdown condition. He died on January 8, 2025. The Miami-Dade Medical Examiner ruled his cause of death as "complications of schizoaffective disorder," but medical experts including a former NYC chief medical examiner questioned this finding, noting mental illness alone cannot be a proper cause of death and citing concern about multiple medications in his system and the unresolved rhabdomyolysis.

Federal immigration officers detained a contractor at General Mills' Chanhassen manufacturing facility in mid-January. Video of the incident circulated on social media. The detention occurred as part of increased ICE enforcement activity at Minnesota workplaces, affecting major companies.

State Rep. Hoan Huynh said federal Customs and Border Patrol agents stopped him at gunpoint on Chicago's Northwest Side while he was conducting community education about ICE rights. Six agents surrounded his vehicle near Montrose Avenue and Kimball Avenue, with one agent pulling a gun. A DHS official stated Huynh was stalking law enforcement and interfering with operations.

Juan Manuel Arellano Zepeda, a 48-year-old Mexican national and owner of El Fresco restaurant in Bloomington, was detained by ICE on January 6 and held in El Paso, Texas. Arellano Zepeda, who has lived in the U.S. for 25 years and has a pending Visa T application, was initially reported missing by his family after they found his car empty with the driver's side window rolled down. His daughter Laura Janyra Arellano Molina told Newsweek that her father called to say he was being taken to El Paso, and the family later identified him in ICE facility photos posted on social media. The restaurant described Arellano Zepeda as "always characterized by his kindness and respect toward his customers and the public." His family said he has no criminal record and has not had a court hearing as of the article's publication.

A father and his 9-year-old daughter were detained by ICE agents immediately after leaving a United Way of Yellowstone County backpack distribution event in Billings, Montana, and were transported to a detention facility in Havre. A federal judge later ordered the pair released, finding agents had not obtained a warrant before pulling the family over and arresting them. United Way CEO Andrew Konkel said agents appeared to be staying at a nearby hotel and may have targeted families leaving the parking lot rather than the event itself. The next day, another family was detained after attending the same event; they were later found to have legal status and released. Following the two detentions, United Way warned more than 100 area nonprofits and began developing training on responding to immigration enforcement near community events.

A Brazilian man was caught up in a fight between detainees in the Krome canteen in late January. Staff took him outside and beat him. One guard choked him; when he bit in self-defense, another yanked his arm backwards, causing a serious injury. He was denied a sling and given only basic pain medication for a few days. In late March or early April, he sustained knee injuries during recreation. Despite visible swelling and signs of infection, he was denied timely care. By the time he was hospitalized, staff had to drain fluid from both knees. Hospital staff told him any further delay could have resulted in amputation. He required a wheelchair but was assigned to a top bunk at FDC despite repeated requests to be moved.

Marvin Hernandez Lopez, who entered the U.S. in 2013 and has been living here with family and a business, was detained by ICE while traveling to work last month. He argues ICE is wrongfully holding him under a statute requiring mandatory detention instead of one allowing bond hearings. The court granted a temporary restraining order preventing his transfer outside Florida's Middle District while his habeas petition is pending, but denied his request for immediate release or bond hearing.

A noncitizen who had resided in the United States for over four years was apprehended by ICE at his routine check-in appointment in January 2025 and held at Webb County Detention Center under mandatory detention provisions. An Immigration Judge ordered his removal to Ecuador and denied his asylum application. He challenged his detention as violating Fifth Amendment due process rights. The district court granted his petition for habeas corpus, finding that noncitizens with established U.S. presence are entitled to individualized assessment of flight risk and dangerousness before detention, and ordered his immediate release with safeguards against redetention.

Israel Uriarte, a man who lived in the U.S. for 33 years with deep roots, no criminal record, and family in the country, was arrested by immigration officers in January in his Cypress Park neighborhood. He has been detained at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center and has requested bond three times from an immigration judge, but was denied each time. Immigration attorneys note that people in similar circumstances — with established ties to the U.S. — would have historically been released on bond.

An unnamed migrant who returned to a mountain town in Michoacán took a job managing a cattle herd for a local rancher. The rancher had not obtained required vetting and approval from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel before hiring the outsider. Upon discovering the unauthorized employment, sicarios arrived at the migrant's home and fired multiple rounds of bullets into the building. The worker fled out the back door as gunmen stormed in, losing all his possessions. He subsequently went into hiding in Michoacán's capital.

Adrián Ramírez, 45, was deported from Nashville to his hometown in Michoacán, Mexico after more than two decades in the United States. Upon return, he was interrogated and photographed by cartel members, then watched as the Jalisco New Generation Cartel took control of his town, killing the gas station owner and extorting residents. Fearing for his life, Ramírez left his pueblo a few months later and relocated to another town, also controlled by the cartel. He now works at a tortillería and has been warned that cartel members may question him about his origins. He remains separated from his three children in the U.S. and fears detention if he attempts to return.

Eduardo was detained by ICE in January while driving home from work with a coworker. He was deported to Honduras within a week, leaving his wife Jennifer to care for their five children alone, ranging in age from 18 months to 12 years old. The family now faces financial crisis as Jennifer struggles to provide food, housing, utilities, and basic necessities on her own.

Victor Diaz, a 36-year-old Nicaraguan restaurant worker, died by suicide in January 2025 while in ICE custody at Camp East Montana in El Paso, Texas. Diaz was initially detained by ICE in Minnesota and transferred to the crowded El Paso facility, where he lost contact with relatives. After reporting harassment from fellow detainees, he was placed in isolation, where he subsequently died by suicide.

Maria Trinidad Loya Medina was detained by ICE on January 10, 2026, after her arrest outside a store in Albany, Oregon, separating her from her family for four months. A federal judge ordered her release on May 7, finding that an immigration judge had abused discretion and violated her due process rights in denying bond. Loya Medina, who has lived in the U.S. for over 20 years and has no criminal record, was the primary caregiver for her husband who had suffered a stroke and her children, one of whom was diagnosed with depression following her detention.